This weekend I will be away from the parish, attending my college class reunion. Twenty-five years ago, I graduated from the University of Dallas (UD), a small Catholic university located in Irving, TX. It was an unlikely choice for an 18-year-old from Connecticut, but I had a cousin studying there whom I visited as aContinue reading “Alma Mater “
Category Archives: Other
Cardinals
Next Saturday, September 30, Pope Francis will install 21 new members of the College of Cardinals. A Cardinal of the Church is a senior member of the Catholic clergy whose most important responsibility is to elect a new pope when the reigning pontiff dies or resigns. Most Cardinals are bishops, though not all. Popes occasionallyContinue reading “Cardinals “
Keeping Time
While January 1 marks the beginning of the calendar year, and July 1 is the beginning of the fiscal year, and the first Sunday of Advent is the beginning of the liturgical year, Labor Day marks the end of summer and the beginning of another school year. I imagine that for most parents these daysContinue reading “Keeping Time “
Fr. Coley Palmer, R.I.P.
On August 14, Fr. Michael “Coley” Palmer passed away at the age of 86. Fr. Palmer was born in Stamford in 1934 and was baptized at St. John’s Church on Atlantic St. When he was still a boy, his family moved to Springdale where they became members of St. Cecilia Parish when the church wasContinue reading “Fr. Coley Palmer, R.I.P. “
Living Together
A few months ago, the Institute for Family Studies published “How Moving in Together Makes It Harder to Know if He’s the One,” an article by Scott Stanley and Galena Rhoades, research professors at the University of Denver. The authors note that more than 75% of couples live together before marriage. While a couple’s decisionContinue reading “Living Together “
Conversion
“A personal encounter with the real mystery of a personal God is at the heart of every conversion,” writes Fr. Donald Haggarty in his book Conversion. Years ago, as a deacon, I was responsible for a Bible study at a local parish, and we usually had about 5-6 people attend each week. About four monthsContinue reading “Conversion “
WYD
Papal biographer George Weigel tells a story about meeting with Pope John Paul II in December 2004. The pope was quite ill with the Parkinson’s Disease that would claim his life just a few months later, but he was still alert and happy to share a meal with his friend, who presented him with aContinue reading “WYD “
Grandparents’ Day
Ever since the 1970s, the first Sunday after Labor Day every year is designated National Grandparents’ Day. But we Catholics have been celebrating Grandparents’ day since at least the 6th century, with our observance of the feast day of Sts. Joachim and Anne (July 26), the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the grandparentsContinue reading “Grandparents’ Day “
Conscience
“If there is anything I learned during my time as an interrogator at Guantanamo Bay, it is the importance of a well-formed conscience,” writes Jennifer Bryson, a Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, in an article appearing in a 2022 edition of The Lamp. In the summer of 2001, Bryson was an unemployedContinue reading “Conscience “
Cardinal George, Cultural Missionary
I recently finished reading Glorifying Christ, a new biography by Michael Heinlein about Francis Cardinal George (1937-2015), who served as Cardinal Archbishop of Chicago from 1997-2014. Cardinal George was by all accounts a devoted pastor, but also a brilliant man, who was widely seen as the intellectual leader of the American episcopacy. Before becoming aContinue reading “Cardinal George, Cultural Missionary “
The Parish of St. Cecilia-St. Gabriel 